The Kessil versus Radion debate - why not use both?

[Karliefish]

This seems like a great way to spend a ton of money on a ton of lights that you need to keep turned way down.

Ok appreciate the comment on spending too much money on a ton of lights - somewhat helpful, but what is your suggestion to my original post?

 

[Karliefish]

I don’t really understand the purpose of buying three different light fixtures.... you will be getting tons of whites from your t5. There is no reason to add kessils and another led fixture imo. You will get shimmer from others leds such as the radions which will provide you the “pop” you desire. Having 3 light fixtures just makes no sense because these lights have tunable spectrums to get whatever look you want.

This is exactly why I put the post up for discussion to get these feedback. Taking a completely different direction after reading all the helpful advice here. Thanks

 

[Sdot]

Like the way you mounted everything looks really clean

Thank you sir.... it could be better...lol

 

[Karliefish]

Thank you sir.... it could be better...lol

That’s what keeps us going in this hobby we aren’t ever completely satisfied

 

[minus9]

Nice... good growth im assuming?

Yeah, Anthony's sps grow like weeds.

 

[Sdot]

Yeah, Anthony's sps grow like weeds.

Nice... im seeing the same as well. Great combo imo

 

[jda]

Has anybody seen any actual evidence that a Stratton is a long-term solution over a tank? I would love to read up if anybody has any some actual success over a few years - admittedly, I don't keep up much on this stuff. If it is just speculation based on promises, then never mind since I don't do the flavor of the week anymore. Powermodule was supposed to be the bomb and they are mostly met with ire nowadays.

 

[blitzkragz]

They haven't been available for a few years. Here is a tank that was using one for 6 months at the time of publishing in April, and should be going on about a year if you want to ask channel for update:

 

[blitzkragz]

removed

 

[Karliefish]

They haven't been available for a few years. Here is a tank that was using one for 6 months at the time of publishing in April, and should be going on about a year if you want to ask channel for update:

Great video and beautiful corals! Especially love the bright pink on the birds nest. How much growth are you seeing on the stratons after four months?

 

[Karliefish]

Has anybody seen any actual evidence that a Stratton is a long-term solution over a tank? I would love to read up if anybody has any some actual success over a few years - admittedly, I don't keep up much on this stuff. If it is just speculation based on promises, then never mind since I don't do the flavor of the week anymore. Powermodule was supposed to be the bomb and they are mostly met with ire nowadays.

Fair points, but I don’t believe these lights have been out more than a year so really impossible to answer that question. I guess somebody has to take the plunge and explore new lights.

 

[Joeg]

I think just about everyone would be in agreement that all of the higher end LED's can be tuned to support a healthy tank as with good water management but what I'd wonder about is hot spots where the Radion's and Kessil's overlap. At a minimum you're going to have some fun or frustration getting the 3 lighting sources dialed in.

I think your T5's alone will tone down the Kessil shimmer to your liking. My tank is much smaller at (60g cube) with one Kessil and 4 T5's (2 x coral plus & 2 x actinic) I was very surprised by how much the T5's suppress the Kessil shimmer.

My suggestion to reduce complication and expense (at least initially) would be to order the Kessils and see how they look with the T5's to start. You know you like the shimmer of the Kessil's so I'd start there, You may love it with just the Kessil's and T5 tubes and if you think it needs more, then just pick up one or two Radion's to see how that looks when added to the mix at one end of the tank.

Also, this seems like the perfect situation for renting a par meter from BRS so you have some actual data to back up what your eyes like.

 

[blitzkragz]

Great video and beautiful corals! Especially love the bright pink on the birds nest. How much growth are you seeing on the stratons after four months?

This isn't my tank, just a video I found when doing research before deciding to go with stratons (they arrive tomorrow). I would post questions directly to YouTube to the guy that made the video.

 

[blitzkragz]

_

 

[Karliefish]

This isn't my tank, just a video I found when doing research before deciding to go with stratons (they arrive tomorrow). I would post questions directly to YouTube to the guy that made the video.

Got it - thanks!

 

[Karliefish]

I think just about everyone would be in agreement that all of the higher end LED's can be tuned to support a healthy tank as with good water management but what I'd wonder about is hot spots where the Radion's and Kessil's overlap. At a minimum you're going to have some fun or frustration getting the 3 lighting sources dialed in.

I think your T5's alone will tone down the Kessil shimmer to your liking. My tank is much smaller at (60g cube) with one Kessil and 4 T5's (2 x coral plus & 2 x actinic) I was very surprised by how much the T5's suppress the Kessil shimmer.

My suggestion to reduce complication and expense (at least initially) would be to order the Kessils and see how they look with the T5's to start. You know you like the shimmer of the Kessil's so I'd start there, You may love it with just the Kessil's and T5 tubes and if you think it needs more, then just pick up one or two Radion's to see how that looks when added to the mix at one end of the tank.

Also, this seems like the perfect situation for renting a par meter from BRS so you have some actual data to back up what your eyes like.

This is an incredibly helpful post as you have provided suggestions - much appreciated!!!

 

[Karliefish]

Holy crow this is the exact same thing I am in the process of doing, except twice as big. I have had 6 a360x's on a 12' tank and have loved them and their shimmer, but they just are not enough for anything but LPS. I have ordered 10 xr15 pro's and will put them in between the kessils exactly like you have in your illustration. I already started testing with an xr30 blue you can see in the picture below but two xr15's > one xr30 as far as spacing them out.

We last communicated about Radion + Kessil combination lighting back in 2020. I was curious to hear what you finally settled on with your lighting (along with layout).. and of course more importantly have you been pleased with your SPS coral growth? Do you have a new pic showing the tank along with your lighting layout? Thanks!

 

[Karliefish]

Nice! I believe Anthony @ycnibrc is using the same combo

Had a similar dilemma with my build earlier this year. I decided to go with the Orphek large Panels for the heavy lifting and the Kessils for punch in the blue spectrum (kessils has a very wide spectrum according to BRS) and shimmer. I happy with the result and so are my corals... It has a 14k look to it...or ice white. I dont like the heavy blue look in reef aquariums as it appears un-natural to me.

Its Ben a couple of years since we spoke about lighting and was curious to know if you are still using the Orphex + Kessil combination? Have you stayed happy with the look of the tank and how about your growth? Any updated pics of your tank?